Seeking Excellence in End of Life Care UK (SEECare UK): a UK multi-centred service evaluation (11 July 2023)

Summary

People dying in UK hospitals without specialist palliative care input frequently have “significant and poorly identified unmet needs,” finds a UK-wide evaluation—the first of its kind—published online in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care.

In response to the perceived unmet needs of people dying in hospitals, the Association of Palliative Medicine coordinated the first ever prospective evaluation of end of life care against set standards in 88 hospitals across the UK: Seeking Excellence in End-of-life Care UK or SEECareUK. 

Palliative care specialists assessed how well the holistic needs of 284 adult patients nearing death, but not referred to palliative care services, were being met on one single day between 25 April and 01 May 2022. Patients in emergency care departments or intensive care units weren’t included. 

Nearly all (93%) of those assessed had demonstrable unmet need, with this deficit more apparent in district general hospitals than it was in teaching hospitals or cancer centres.

It is estimated that 1 in 10 patients admitted to UK hospitals will die during their inpatient stay. As specialist palliative care teams often function as a consult service, referral from the managing team is required. 

But complexities around recognising that a patient is dying and the stigma associated with palliative care mean these referrals are frequently not made, say the researchers of this study.